Rail bond terminal



March 23, 1943. E.' J. sABoL RAIL BOND TERMINAL Filed March 16, 1942 z 5 1J... n b J 5 m n l j 4 7 l, .m

Patented Mm. 23, 1943 D STATES PATENT @FFME RAIL BOND TERMINAL & Wilson Company Appiication Marcil 16, 1942, serial No. 434,884

` (c1. 2er-20.3)

Claims.

This invention relates to rail bond terminals of the type in which the terminal has an expansible stud adapted to be received in and expanded into tight engagement with a wall of a 'cavity in a railway rail. As is known, rail bonds are used for forming part of the electric circuit of an electrical signalingr system. The rail bond comprises a conductor having a terminal at each end. The adjacent ends of two railway rails are kelectrically connected together to form apart of the signaling circuit by placing the terminals in rail cavities located in the adjacent ends of railway rails and the stud portion of each of the terminals is expanded into tight engagement with the rail cavity.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates several preferred embodiments of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through a portion of a railway rail and a portion of a rail bond;

Fig'. 2 is a vertical section through a portion of a rail bond showing the terminal in an intermediate stage of its. manufacture andV before the` terminal is applied toa rail;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating a slightly more advanced stage of the manufacture and also illustrating the use of a slightly different form of expander element;

Fig, 4 is a vertical section through a rail bond terminal in which a driving .pin is `used in the intermediate stage of manufacture of thel terminal;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are detailed views of various parts used according to Fig, 4. Fig, 5 is a vertical section of a hollow copper plug; Fig. 6 is .a front elevation of an expander element.; and Fig. 7 illustrates the manner in which the parts shown in Figs. 5 and 6 are assembled.

Referring now `more particularly tothe accon1- panying drawing, a railway rail 2 is provided with a cavity 3 which receives the studil of a rail :bond terminal designated generally `by the reference numeral 5, the terminal having a head 6 formed integrally with the stud. The headv 5 is connect ed to an electric cable 'I which may be formed of a plurality of wires, the ends 8 of these wires being encased in a sleeve 9, both sleeve and wire ends being made integral with the terminal head by electric welding. A bore I extends through the entire length of the terminal head E and through a substantial portion of the stud Ll. The

end of the bore is closed by `an end wall Ii of l the stud.

A hardened steel ball I2, which acts as an eX- pander element is located in the bottom of the bore I0. A lplug I3 of copper or other relatively soft material is located in the bore I above the ball I2 and the upper end of the copper plug is in contact with the lower end of a driving pin I4. This driving pin rits in the head 3 of the terminal and is provided with beads or collars i5@ and I5b` The diameter of bead I5@ is slightly larger than the diameter of the bore I, and the diameter of head Ib is slightly larger than the diameter' of bead i511, so that when the pin is driven into the bore the beads bite into the metal and prevent the pin from becoming loosened, due to vibrations of the rail. It will be understood that when the pin I4 is driven into the `position showny in Fig. l, the copper plug I3 is expanded, and this expansion is aided by the presence of the hardened steel Iball I2, so that the expansible stud 4 of the terminal is expanded into tight engagement with the ra-il cavity 3. The provision of the expander element I2 aids greatly in causing the bottom surface of the stud to be expanded into the apex I3 of the rail cavity 3. It also aids considerably in expanding the side wall Il of the stud into. tight engagement with the wall, forming the cavity 3. The arrangement is such that the stud of the terminal is expanded into tight engagement with the rail cavity and the driving pin I4 is locked in the terminal head, so that the terminal` does not become loosened, even when subjected to severe'vibrations.

Fig. 2 illustrates an intermediate stage in the manufacture of the rail bond terminal, It is desirable that some means be provided for assenti-- bling the hardened steel ball I2 and the copper plug I3 in the bore of the terminal, so that the terminal can be shipped to the user with these parts assembled together. In this manner, loss of the copper plug or steel 'ball is avoided. In certain cases, it also is desirable to assemble the steel ball, the copper plug and the driving pin in the terminal before shipping the terminal to the user.

One way in which the hardened steel ball andthe copper plug may be assembled and retained in the bore of the terminal is illustrated in Fig. 2. The stud-.4 of the terminal is received in an opening 29 in a support or anvil 2i in such manner that the shoulder 22 of the terminal rests on the top surface of the anvil. The hardened steel ball or ball of other hard material is placed in the bottom of the bore II) and then a plug I3 of copper or other relatively soft material is placed in the bore over the ball. The lower surface of the plug is provided with a pocket 23 which fits over the bal1 I2. A plunger 24 lits into the bore I0 and when the plunger is lowered, it presses the copper plug around the ball I2, lling the space 25 and expanding the plug into engagement with the Wall of .the bore. In this manner, the ball l2 and plug I3 are secured in position in the terminal so that they will not become lost in shipping.

The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3 is subtantially similar to that shown in Fig. 2 except that an expander element 28 is used in place of the ball I2 shown in Fig. 2. This expander element 28 is in the general shape of a pear or globule. Fig. 3 illustrates the stage of the method in which the copper plug I3 or plug of other relatively soft material has been pressed into engagement with the expander element 28, whereas in Fig. 2 the parts are shown in the positions before the pressing operation.

Instead of using the plunger 24 for pressing the copper plug around the expander element I2 or 28, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, I may use a driving pin in place of the plunger. I may, for example. insert a pin of the type shown in Fig. 1 or of any other suitable type into the bore of the terminal while the terminal is supported on the anvil 2l and I may then drive the pin into the terminal suiciently far so that the pin is locked lin the terminal. This secures the pin, copper plug and expander element in the terminal, which can then be shipped as a unit to the user. The user in applying the terminal to a rail drives the pin in further, thereby expanding the stud 4 into tight engagement with the rail cavity 3 and expanding the at bottom surface 29 of the stud 4 into the apex IE of the rail cavity as shown in Fig. l.

Referring now to Figs. 4 through 7, the expander element 30 is in the general shape of a ootter pin having the two legs 3l and is made of material such as comparatively mild steel. A plug 32 of copper or other similar material is provided with an opening 33 in Which the expander element 39 is inserted as illustrated in Fig. 7 and then the plug and expander element are placed in the bottom of the terminal bore Il), as Shown in Fig. 4. A driving pin 34 having a V-shaped expander section 35 extending from its lower end is placed in the bore and the pin is driven into the terminal. The wedge shaped expander 35 is forced between the upper ends of the legs 3|, spreading them apart and exerting pressure on the copper plug 32. The pin 34 is preferably of a diameter so as to nt snugly into the bore Il) and be retained therein by frictional engagement. When the terminal shown in Fig. 4 is to be secured to a rail, the stud is inserted in a rail cavity, as described in connection with Fig. l, and the pin 34 is driven in further so as to expand the stud into tight engagement with the rail cavity. The cotter pin expander device shown in Fig. 4 has the terminal, the pressure exerted by the pin 34 is transmitted through the expansion element 30 to the nat surface 29 of the stud 4, thereby deforming the flat surface 29 into the apex I6 of the rail cavity.

While I have illustrated and described several preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to lbe understood that the invention may be other- Wise embodied or practiced Within the scope of the following claims:

I claim:

l. A rail bond terminal, comprising a terminal head, an expansible stud adapted to be received in a rail cavity, a bore extending through the head and through a substantial portieri of the length of the stud, an expander element of relatively hard material adjacent the bottom of the bore, and a plug of relatively soft material located entirely within the bore and compacted the advantage of transmitting the expansion' against said expander element and against the wall of the bore, whereby said expander element and plug of relatively soft material are retained in the bore.

2. A rail bond terminal, comprising a terminal head, an expansible stud adapted to be received in a rail cavity, a bore extending through the head and through a substantial portion of the length of the stud, a hardened ball adjacent the bottom of the bore, and a plug of relatively soft material located entirely within the bore and compacted against said hardened ball and against the wall of the bore, whereby said hardened ball and plug of relatively soft material are retained in the bore.

3. A rail bond terminal, comprising a terminal head, an expansible stud adapted to be received in a rail cavity, a bore extending through the head and through a substantial portion of the length of the stud, an expander element of relatively hard material adjacent the bottom of the bore, a plug of relatively soft material located entirely within the bore and compacted against said expander element and against the wall yof the bore, and a driving pin of relatively hard material locked in the bore.

4. A rail bond terminal, comprising a terminal head, an expansible stud adapted to be received in a rail cavity, a bore extending through the head and through a substantial portion of the length of the stud, a hollow cylinder of relatively soft material in thebore, an expander element in the opening in said hollow cylinder, a driving pin of relatively hard material in the bore, said pin provided with an expander element adapted to contact with said rst mentioned expander element and expand said rst mentioned expander element against said relatively soft material.

5. A rail bond terminal in accordance with claim 4, in which the expander element which is locked in the opening in the hollow cylinder of relatively soft material is in the general shape of a Cotter pin with its free ends extending toward the driving pin.

ERNEST J. SABOL. 

